Communications system providing mobile device notification based upon personal interest information and calendar events

ABSTRACT

A communications system may include at least one mobile wireless communications device for storing personal interest information for respective contacts and for storing calendar event data. The system may further include a notification server communicating with the at least one mobile wireless communications device via a wireless communications network and configured to access the personal interest information and calendar event data from the at least one mobile wireless communications device, and send notifications to the at least one mobile wireless communications device based upon the personal interest information and the calendar event data.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications systems,and, more particularly, to wireless communications systems, devices andrelated methods.

BACKGROUND

Mobile communications systems continue to grow in popularity and havebecome an integral part of both personal and business communications.Mobile telephones allow users to place and receive voice calls mostanywhere they travel. Moreover, as mobile telephone technology hasincreased, so too has the functionality of mobile devices and thedifferent types of devices available to users. For example, many mobiledevices now incorporate personal digital assistant (PDA) features suchas calendars, address books, task lists, etc. Moreover, suchmulti-function devices may also allow users to wirelessly send andreceive electronic mail (email) messages and access the Internet via acellular network and/or a wireless local area network (WLAN), forexample.

As a result, users continue to spend more time using their mobiledevices during the course of a day, as opposed to early cellular phonesthat were used only for phones calls. This has resulted in a significantinterest from the advertising community in targeting advertisements tomobile devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a communications system providingmobile wireless communications device notification features inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating communication method aspectsproviding mobile wireless communications device notification features inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a front view of an exemplary mobile wireless communicationsdevice that may be used with the system of FIG. 1 and displayingcalendar event and contact interest information.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the device of FIG. 3 displaying anadvertisement resulting from the calendar event and contact interestinformation.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an alternative embodiment of thesystem of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating additional communication methodaspects in accordance with an alternative embodiment.

FIG. 7 is schematic block diagram of another communications system inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating communication method aspectsassociated with the system of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of an alternative embodiment of thecommunications system of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram illustrating communication method aspectsassociated with the system of FIG. 9.

FIGS. 11 is a schematic block diagram illustrating exemplary componentsof a mobile wireless communications device for use with the exemplarysystems.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present description is made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which exemplary embodiments are shown. However, manydifferent embodiments may be used, and thus the description should notbe construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather,these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thoroughand complete. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout, and primenotation is used to indicate similar elements or steps in differentembodiments.

Generally speaking, a communications system is disclosed herein whichmay include at least one mobile wireless communications device forstoring personal interest information for respective contacts and forstoring calendar event data. The system may further include anotification server communicating with the at least one mobile wirelesscommunications device via a wireless communications network andconfigured to access the personal interest information and calendarevent data from the at least one mobile wireless communications device,and send notifications to the at least one mobile wirelesscommunications device based upon the personal interest information andthe calendar event data.

In one embodiment, the notification server may send the notifications tothe at least one mobile wireless communications device based uponproximity to an upcoming calendar event. By way of example, thenotification server may send the notifications to the at least onemobile wireless communications device with increasing frequency basedupon increasing proximity to the upcoming calendar event. Thenotifications may include advertisements, for example. Further, thepersonal interest information may include contact interest informationfor respective contacts, products of interest, or both.

In addition, the at least one mobile wireless communications device mayalso be for exchanging electronic mail (email) messages with contacts,and the notification server may also send the notifications based uponthe email messages. The notification server may be operable over theInternet for accessing additional contact interest information, and thenotification sever may also send the notifications based upon theadditional contact interest information. Moreover, the at least onemobile wireless communications device may also be for storing Internetaddresses for the additional contact interest information (e.g., storingthe Internet addresses of contact Web pages), and the notificationserver may further accesses the stored Internet addresses from the atleast one mobile wireless communications device.

In some embodiments, the notification server may send the notificationsbased upon bids submitted from a plurality of notification sources. Byway of example, the at least one mobile wireless communications devicemay be at least one cellular communications device.

A related communications method may include storing calendar events andpersonal interest information in at least one mobile wirelesscommunications device. The method may further include accessing thepersonal interest information and calendar events from the at least onemobile wireless communications device using a notification servercommunicating with the at least one mobile wireless communicationsdevice via a wireless communications network, and sending notificationsto the at least one mobile wireless communications device from thenotification server via the wireless communication network based uponthe personal interest information and the calendar events.

Referring initially to FIGS. 1 and 2, a communications system 30 andassociated method aspects are first described. The system 30illustratively includes one or more mobile wireless communicationsdevices 31 (MWCDs), a notification server 35, and a wirelesscommunications network 36 through which the device(s) and notificationserver communicate. The device 31 illustratively includes a processor 32(e.g., a microprocessor) and associated memory 33 (e.g., FLASH,removable memory (e.g., SD card), etc.) for running one or more softwareapplications to store information such as contact interest informationand calendar events (Blocks 60-61), as will be discussed further below.

By way of example, the device 31 and wireless communications network 36may operate in accordance with a cellular, wireless LAN (e.g., 802.11x,Bluetooth, etc.), WiMAX, satellite, etc., communications format, as willbe appreciated by those skilled in the art. In some embodiments, morethan one such wireless communications format may be used in the samedevice (e.g., cellular, wireless LAN, and Bluetooth). Moreover, thedevice 31 also illustratively includes one or more associated antennas34. Various types of mobile wireless communications devices may be used,such as mobile phones, PDAs, laptop computers, wireless-enabled cameras,wireless-enabled media players, etc., for example.

Generally speaking, the notification server 35 communicates with thedevice 31 via the wireless communications network 36 for accessing thecontact interest information and calendar events from the device, atBlock 62, and sending notifications to the device based thereon, atBlock 63, thus concluding the method illustrated in FIG. 5 (Block 64).This may be done in different ways. In one embodiment, the notificationserver 35 may periodically or intermittently prompt the device 31 toprovide the calendar/preference information. Another approach is for thedevice 31 to provide this information to the notification server 35 atvarious times, such as upon a change in preference settings by the user.

Turning more particularly to FIG. 3 through 5, an exemplary embodimentis shown in which the mobile device 31′ comprises a smart phone with PDAfeatures. The device 31′ illustratively includes a display 40′ providinga user interface as shown, and one or more user input devices, such as atrack ball 41′ and a key pad 42′, although various other types,combinations, or both, of user input devices may also be used. In thepresent example, a contact or address book application is running on thedevice 31′ which displays a contact entry for “Sally Smith.” A firstfield 43′ includes Sally's contact information, namely an email address(ssmith@yahoo.com), home phone number (123-555-1212), mobile phonenumber (123-555-2121), and Sally's Web page address(www.sally-smith.com). A second field 44′ illustratively includesSally's birth date (Oct. 14, 1985), and a third field 45′ includes thecontact interest information. Here, the contact's (i.e., Sally's)interests or likes include chocolate cake, skating, and wine. Thisinformation may be entered by the user of the device 31′ via the keypad42′, by a computer that synchronizes with the device, etc., as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art. Dislikes may also be used. Forexample, a person may not like nor want to wear certain colors. Asanother example, someone may not drink alcohol or not eat meat or pork,etc., due to religious beliefs, or may be allergic to nuts, etc. Agealso may be used as a factor in determining advertising recommendations.

It will be appreciated that the illustrated contact information ismerely exemplary, and that the same or different information fields maybe included in other embodiments. For example, in addition to or insteadof the user's website address, other Web profile information may bestored, such as a MySpace® or Facebook® profile or other socialnetworking site profile. Further, other important dates for the contactmay also be stored, such as anniversaries, cultural or religiousholidays celebrated by the contact, etc. Additionally, further contactinformation such as home or work addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers,etc., may also be included in a given contact or address book profile,as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

By creating profiles for contacts, the notification server 35′ mayadvantageously provide recommendations as to suitable gifts for thecalendar event occasions, e.g., for birthdays, Christmas, etc. Thelinking of personal interests with specific calendar dates allowsadvertisements to be provided based upon current inventory (e.g., to“push” overstocked items to matching personal interests), as well asitems that are seasonal or time limited to those with calendar eventsfor which products or gifts are needed in the given time period. Inaccordance with one example, a user may enter a contact's birthday intothe device calendar and the contact's profile into the address bookprofile. A shopping list may be created for the contact based upon anynotes that the user adds about the contact, or from entry fields thatallow likes or preferences to be stored, such as for a sport, product,or otherwise. This may be done with entry fields in the address bookapplication such as “likes,” “dislikes,” “wants,” “has,” “needs,” etc.Such items may also be included in a user's shopping list, notes, memos,etc.

By providing the ability on the mobile device 31′ to create such entriesfor oneself as well as contacts such as friends, family members, etc.,when an item or interest is included in a shopping list for the user orassociated with a contact, the notification server 35′ may then sendnotifications (e.g., advertisements) relevant to what the user wishes topurchase for themselves or a contact. Moreover, by associating theinterests to a calendar event, such as a birthday for a contact, as theproximity to the birthday increases (i.e., the date gets closer) theuser then advantageously receives advertisements or other notificationsbased on the item.

In the example of FIGS. 3 and 4, the advertisement relates to cakes,since one of the “likes” in Sally Smith's profile is “chocolate cake.”That is, the contact or user interest information may include productsor other items or activities of interest to respective contacts or theuser, and the advertisements correspond to the products or items oractivities of interest. The advertisement seen in FIG. 4 is for a cakeof the month club because this corresponds with Sally's interest incakes, and it is provided along with a helpful reminder that Sally'sbirthday is approaching on October 14th. Of course, notifications andadvertisements may take other forms in different embodiments than theone shown in the present example.

A related communications method is now described with further referenceto FIG. 6. Beginning at Block 60′, the method illustratively includesstoring calendar events and contact interest information for respectivecontacts in the device 31′, and accessing the contact interestinformation and calendar events from the device using the notificationserver 35′ via the wireless communications network 36′, at Blocks61′-62′, as noted above. If proximity to the calendar event is such thatsending a notification to the device 31′ is warranted (e.g., it iswithin one month of the event), at Blocks 65′-66′, the notification issent to the mobile device 31′ from the notification server 35′ via thewireless communication network 36′ based upon the contact interestinformation and the calendar events, at Block 63′. Another way to usecalendar data is mining calendar data with respect to past events. Forexample, per one might have a calendar event for a dinner with thecontact from a month ago, and a gift card for that restaurant or forsimilar restaurants may be suggested.

In some embodiments, the notification server 35′ may optionally send thenotifications based upon bids submitted from a plurality of notificationsources, at Block 67′. For example, advertisers or other notificationproviders may bid to have advertisements for their respective goods orservices sent to users who have indicated a preference, either forthemselves or for their contacts. In the above noted example, the cakevendor that bid the highest amount that they would be willing to pay tohave their cake advertisement sent to a user indicating “cakes” as aninterest would have their advertisement sent first to the mobile device31′. Moreover, as a particular calendar event approaches, notificationssuch as advertisements may cost more to place (i.e., the price of theadvertisements may be changed based upon proximity to the calendarevent). Various approaches for receiving and selecting bids foradvertisements will be appreciated by those skilled in the art which maybe used herein, and bidding need not be required in all embodiments.

Moreover, the notifications may also be based upon not only theinformation included in a user's shopping list, contact profile, etc.,but may further be based upon preference information included in emailsexchanged between the user and contacts (or others), for example. Forinstance, copies of the email stored on the mobile device 31′ or on anemail server (which may also be the notification server 35′ in someembodiments, though it need not be in all embodiments), could besearched for key words that will trigger particular types ofnotifications. For examples, references in emails to a particular typeof sports may result in notifications or offers for tickets related tosporting events, sports apparel, etc. Other forms of communications mayalso be “mined” for such preference information, such as short messageservice (SMS) messages, instant messages (IM), text converted from phoneconversations, weblogs or blogs, etc.

One way to conceptually categorize how information about personalinterest information is determined or captured is that such informationmay be considered as static or dynamic content. Static content may beconsidered to be what the user enters in a wish list, etc., whereasdynamic content may be considered to be information mined from emails,blogs, etc. Potentially, information most recently entered or sent in anemail, etc., is particularly relevant, so the notification server 35′may advantageously move items up in a ranking in terms of what may berecommended versus what is to be listed in a shopping list, etc., aswill be appreciated by those skilled in the art. If there is anyambiguity in what a contact intends or desires, the notification server35′ may also advantageously send an email, etc., to a given user askingwhat that person would prefer as a gift, and then send the updatedinformation to a friend attempting to buy or contribute to a gift forthe given user.

Similarly, another source for obtaining personal or contact preferenceinformation may be user or contact websites, such as a personal Webpage, blog, MySpace or other social networking page, etc. That is, thenotification server 35′ may be operable over the Internet 52′ foraccessing additional contact interest information, and the notificationsever may also send the notifications based upon the additional contactinterest information. More specifically, the notification server 35′ mayaccess such Internet addresses from the mobile device 31′. In theexample of FIG. 5, Sally Smith's personal Web page, www.sally-smith.com,is hosted by a Web server 53′. The notification server 35′ (or othercomputer) first accesses this URL (or IP address) from the storedprofile on the mobile device 31′, for example, and then accesses Sally'sWeb page accordingly to search the text thereof for key words that willtrigger particular types of notifications, as will be appreciated bythose skilled in the art.

In accordance with one example utilizing social network entries, a usermay set up a shopping list with a link to Sally's social network page.If Sally enters something on her social network page that she likes as a“Favorite” or “Wish list” item, the notification to the mobile device31′ could indicate that “Sally has just indicated she would “love tohave a new pair of purple high heel shoes”. From this notification theuser may be provided with product recommendations and options such as“add item to shopping list,” “buy now,” or “set a reminder for Sally'sbirthday,” etc.

The notifications associated with a particular calendar event maycontinue to be presented to the mobile device 31′ until the event haspassed, at Block 68′, for example. In some embodiments, the notificationserver 35′ may advantageously send the notifications to the mobiledevice 31′ with increasing frequency based upon increasing proximity tothe upcoming calendar event, at Blocks 69′, 70′. That is, thenotification server 35′ may send notifications such as advertisements tothe mobile device 31′ more frequently as the calendar event drawsnearer. Various schedules for sending of notifications may be used indifferent embodiments, as will be appreciated by those skilled in theart. Another trigger which may increase the frequency of sending ofnotifications, for example, is a request from the user for suggestionsfor gift ideas for the upcoming event (e.g., Sally's birthday).

If Sally's Birthday is not stored in the mobile device calendar, theremay be a queue to “add to Calendar.” This type of queue may occur if theinformation is captured from an email communication from Sally that “mybirthday is coming up and I'd like a new pair of purple shoes,” forexample. Another possibility is that a user may choose to add a “Buy by<date>” when a notification is sent to her indicating an item thatsomeone would like. A user may receive a message that “Jason would likea video game,” which the user would choose to add to her shopping list,but also indicate that she would like to buy this by <date>. This may beadded to her calendar, or tagged in a shopping list as a “Purchase By .. . ” item.

In accordance with various examples, advertisements may be facilitatedbased upon a user a shopping list for a holiday (e.g., Christmas,Easter, etc.), possible gift ideas for an anniversary, etc. Anotherexample may be a travel alert based upon a stored itinerary in themobile device 31′. Notification may also be based upon searches ofapplication data to identify memberships such as the American AutomobileAssociation (AAA) or Canadian Automobile Association (CAA), for example.Another possibility is gearing the notifications towards enterpriseusers for travel or procurement of IT materials, etc.

The foregoing embodiments may be particularly advantageous in that auser may have a shopping list/wish list on their mobile device 31′ towhich he or she can add items to at any time. This list may then be used“real time,” or on an “as needed” basis from a user's perspective to getthe best deal at the time he or she wishes to purchase a particular itemor service. Because of the ability to more directly target likelycustomers, this may advantageously permit additional discounts to begiven to users through coupons, etc., than the user may otherwise beable to obtain by simply going into a store without an advertisementprovided by the notification server 35′, although this need not be thecase in all embodiments.

Turning additionally to the alternative system 30″ and methodillustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, the notification server 35″ mayadvantageously access the addresses of one or more contact Web pages(e.g., MySpace®, Facebook®, etc.) stored on the device 31″, at Blocks80-82, retrieve personal interest information on the contact Web pagesbased upon the addresses, at Block 83, and send notifications to thedevice(s) based upon the retrieved personal interest information, atBlock 84, thus concluding the method illustrated in FIG. 8 (Block 85).More particularly, in the illustrated embodiment the notification server35″ need not access calendar information stored on devices 31″ prior tosearching contact Web pages for the contacts′ personal interestinformation, although stored calendar events (and personal interestinformation stored on devices 31″) may also be used, as discussed above.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the contact addresses maybe in other locations beside Web pages. For example, native applicationsfor MySpace® and Facebook® may be used, for example, that do not use aWeb browser interface and would not necessarily involve storing a webpage address for a contact's web page (e.g., www.myspace.com/username).Also Facebook® and MySpace® have their own contact lists, and these mayor may not be synchronized to the device address book. Facebook® &MySpace® also have their own calendars, and these may or may not besynchronized to the mobile device 31 calendar.

Referring additionally to FIGS. 9 and 10, a related system 30′″ in whichthe contact Web pages include gift registries is now described. In theillustrated embodiment, the notification server 35′″ (which in thisexample is an advertising server) accesses a contact Web address fromthe device 31 a′″. In the illustrated example, the stored address is fora contact Web page 55′″ for a contact Sally Smith, and the addresswww.myspace.com/sallysmith. The device 31 b′″ is Sally Smith's personaldevice, and the device 31 c′″ is associated with another contact ofSally Smith. The device 31 c′″ does not have Sally Smith's contact Webpage address stored thereon, but it does have calendar events (e.g.,Sally's birthday) and personal interest information for Sally storedthereon.

Once the advertising server 35′″ accesses the device 31 a′″ andretrieves the contact Web page for Sally Smith, it may advantageouslyaccess the gift registry on Sally Smith's contact Web page 55′″, whichin the present example illustratively includes gift registry entriesincluding an MP3 player, a mountain bike, chocolate, a blender, and ahandbag, at Block 82′. The advertising server 35′″ also advantageouslyaccesses the calendar and personal interest information for Sally Smithstored on the device 31 c′″ (and may access such information, as well asher contact Web page 55′″, from Sally Smith's device 31 b′″ in someembodiments as well).

Moreover, in addition to the gift registry entries, the advertisingserver 35″ may also advantageously retrieve additional contactinformation from Sally Smith's Web page 55′″, such as a list ofadditional contacts or friends. In the illustrated example, the Web page55′″ lists an additional friend named Jennifer Jones, with an associatedlink to Jennifer Jones′ contact Web page 56′″, which in the illustratedexample is www.myspace.com/jenniferjones. The advertising server 35′″may advantageously access the page 56′″ to determine additional giftideas for Sally Smith, or to obtain contact information for JenniferJones (e.g., an email address) to send advertisements to her as well, orboth, at Block 87′.

In the context of the present gift registry embodiment, advertisementsare sent to the devices 31 a′″, 31 c′″, but not Sally Smith's device 31b′″, based upon the retrieved personal interest/gift information notedabove, at Block 84′. That is, since Sally Smith is to be the recipientof the gifts, she may advantageously be excluded from receivingadvertisements for gifts, which may indicate to her what gifts have beenpurchased for her already. Along these lines, the advertising server 35″may further send purchase notifications to the device 31 a′″ or 31 c′″(but not the device 31 b′″ of the designated contact, here Sally Smith)when the user of the other device makes a purchase of a gift on the giftregistry, at Blocks 88′-90′. That is, when someone makes a purchase ofone of the gifts, the other contacts to whom ads are being sent arenotified that the gift has already been purchased so they will know notto also purchase the same gift, but can instead purchase somethingdifferent. Thus, the designated contact (here Sally Smith) willadvantageously not know which items have been purchased for her asgifts, while others will have the benefit of knowing what has alreadybeen purchased, for example.

In some applications, if Sally Smith's page 55′″ does not have a giftregistry or other indications of her personal preferences for giftitems, then the advertising server may advantageously retrieve personalpreference information of other contacts or friends associated withSally Smith (e.g., Jennifer Jones), and use this personal preferenceinformation as the basis for generating advertisements to send to thedevices 31 a′″, 31 c′″. That is, the advertising server 35′″ may predictthat friends of a designated contact are likely to share commoninterests and likes, as is often the case with close friends, andtherefore select advertisements accordingly. The additional featuresdiscussed above, such as sending notifications based upon a proximity tocalendar events (and changing the frequency thereof based upon theproximity) may also advantageously be implemented in the present giftregistry embodiment, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Thus, for example, if a given contact has few or no gifts or wish listitems, either in his or her wish list or as indicated in any of his orher communications, (e.g., emails, etc.), the advertising server 35′″may advantageously check the contacts of any designated friends in theuser's social network or contacts in an address book forrecommendations. Again, this feature is based on the premise that ifsomeone is designated as a friend then that person will tend to like thesame things that the user likes, and vice-versa.

In some embodiments, if a user indicates that he/she wants to buy a giftfor someone but for whatever reason is unable to complete thetransaction at that time, a reminder may be set. The reminder may beprovided more frequently as the date of the event comes closer, forexample. Another advantageous feature is that a user may be permitted tocontribute to a gift for a given user that costs more money than what afriend could otherwise afford or wants to spend on his or her own. Thatis, the system would allow multiple friends to contribute and share theexpense of a gift for given user. In such case, as the date of an eventdraws closer, reminders or notifications may advantageously be sent to agroup of friends informing that them one or more friends or contacts hadcontributed to a gift for a given user, and asking the others if theywould like to contribute so that the given user can indeed receive thegift.

Exemplary components of a hand-held mobile wireless communicationsdevice 1000 that may be used in accordance the system 20 is furtherdescribed in the example below with reference to FIG. 11. The device1000 illustratively includes a housing 1200, a keypad 1400 and an outputdevice 1600. The output device shown is a display 1600, which maycomprise a full graphic LCD. In some embodiments, display 1600 maycomprise a touch-sensitive input and output device. Other types ofoutput devices may alternatively be utilized. A processing device 1800is contained within the housing 1200 and is coupled between the keypad1400 and the display 1600. The processing device 1800 controls theoperation of the display 1600, as well as the overall operation of themobile device 1000, in response to actuation of keys on the keypad 1400by the user. In some embodiments, keypad 1400 may comprise a physicalkeypad or a virtual keypad (e.g., using a touch-sensitive interface) orboth.

The housing 1200 may be elongated vertically, or may take on other sizesand shapes (including clamshell housing structures). The keypad 1400 mayinclude a mode selection key, or other hardware or software forswitching between text entry and telephony entry.

In addition to the processing device 1800, other parts of the mobiledevice 1000 are shown schematically in FIG. 11. These include acommunications subsystem 1001; a short-range communications subsystem1020; the keypad 1400 and the display 1600, along with otherinput/output devices 1060, 1080, 1100 and 1120; as well as memorydevices 1160, 1180 and various other device subsystems 1201. The mobiledevice 1000 may comprise a two-way RF communications device having voiceand data communications capabilities. In addition, the mobile device1000 may have the capability to communicate with other computer systemsvia the Internet.

Operating system software executed by the processing device 1800 may bestored in a persistent store, such as the flash memory 1160, but may bestored in other types of memory devices, such as a read only memory(ROM) or similar storage element. In addition, system software, specificdevice applications, or parts thereof, may be temporarily loaded into avolatile store, such as the random access memory (RAM) 1180.Communications signals received by the mobile device may also be storedin the RAM 1180.

The processing device 1800, in addition to its operating systemfunctions, enables execution of software applications 1300A-1300N on thedevice 1000. A predetermined set of applications that control basicdevice operations, such as data and voice communications 1300A and1300B, may be installed on the device 1000 during manufacture. Inaddition, a personal information manager (PIM) application may beinstalled during manufacture. The PIM may be capable of organizing andmanaging data items, such as e-mail, calendar events, voice mails,appointments, and task items. The PIM application may also be capable ofsending and receiving data items via a wireless network 1401. The PIMdata items may be seamlessly integrated, synchronized and updated viathe wireless network 1401 with the device user's corresponding dataitems stored or associated with a host computer system.

Communication functions, including data and voice communications, areperformed through the communications subsystem 1001, and possiblythrough the short-range communications subsystem. The communicationssubsystem 1001 includes a receiver 1500, a transmitter 1520, and one ormore antennas 1540 and 1560. In addition, the communications subsystem1001 also includes a processing module, such as a digital signalprocessor (DSP) 1580, and local oscillators (LOs) 1601. The specificdesign and implementation of the communications subsystem 1001 isdependent upon the communications network in which the mobile device1000 is intended to operate. For example, a mobile device 1000 mayinclude a communications subsystem 1001 designed to operate with theMobitex™, Data TAC™ or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) mobile datacommunications networks, and also designed to operate with any of avariety of voice communications networks, such as AMPS, TDMA, CDMA,WCDMA, PCS, GSM, EDGE, etc. Other types of data and voice networks, bothseparate and integrated, may also be utilized with the mobile device1000. The mobile device 1000 may also be compliant with othercommunications standards such as 3GSM, 3G, UMTS, 4G, etc.

Network access requirements vary depending upon the type ofcommunication system. For example, in the Mobitex and DataTAC networks,mobile devices are registered on the network using a unique personalidentification number or PIN associated with each device. In GPRSnetworks, however, network access is associated with a subscriber oruser of a device. A GPRS device therefore utilizes a subscriber identitymodule, commonly referred to as a SIM card, in order to operate on aGPRS network.

When required network registration or activation procedures have beencompleted, the mobile device 1000 may send and receive communicationssignals over the communication network 1401. Signals received from thecommunications network 1401 by the antenna 1540 are routed to thereceiver 1500, which provides for signal amplification, frequency downconversion, filtering, channel selection, etc., and may also provideanalog to digital conversion. Analog-to-digital conversion of thereceived signal allows the DSP 1580 to perform more complexcommunications functions, such as demodulation and decoding. In asimilar manner, signals to be transmitted to the network 1401 areprocessed (e.g. modulated and encoded) by the DSP 1580 and are thenprovided to the transmitter 1520 for digital to analog conversion,frequency up conversion, filtering, amplification and transmission tothe communication network 1401 (or networks) via the antenna 1560.

In addition to processing communications signals, the DSP 1580 providesfor control of the receiver 1500 and the transmitter 1520. For example,gains applied to communications signals in the receiver 1500 andtransmitter 1520 may be adaptively controlled through automatic gaincontrol processes implemented in the DSP 1580.

In a data communications mode, a received signal, such as a text messageor web page download, is processed by the communications subsystem 1001and is input to the processing device 1800. The received signal is thenfurther processed by the processing device 1800 for an output to thedisplay 1600, or alternatively to some other auxiliary I/O device 1060.A device user may also compose data items, such as e-mail messages,using the keypad 1400 and/or some other auxiliary I/O device 1060, suchas a touchpad, a rocker switch, a thumb-wheel, or some other type ofinput device. The composed data items may then be transmitted over thecommunications network 1401 via the communications subsystem 1001.

In a voice communications mode, overall operation of the device issubstantially similar to the data communications mode, except thatreceived signals are output to a speaker 1100, and signals fortransmission are generated by a microphone 1120. Alternative voice oraudio I/O subsystems, such as a voice message recording subsystem, mayalso be implemented on the device 1000. In addition, the display 1600may also be utilized in voice communications mode, for example todisplay the identity of a calling party, the duration of a voice call,or other voice call related information.

The short-range communications subsystem enables communication betweenthe mobile device 1000 and other proximate systems or devices, whichneed not necessarily be similar devices. For example, the short-rangecommunications subsystem may include an infrared device and associatedcircuits and components, or a Bluetooth™ communications module toprovide for communication with similarly-enabled systems and devices.

Many modifications and other embodiments will come to the mind of oneskilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in theforegoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it isunderstood that various modifications and embodiments are intended to beincluded within the scope of the appended claims.

That which is claimed is:
 1. A communications system comprising: atleast one mobile wireless communications device for storing personalinterest information and for storing calendar event data; and anotification server communicating with said at least one mobile wirelesscommunications device via a wireless communications network, wherein thenotification server is configured to access the personal interestinformation and calendar event data from said at least one mobilewireless communications device, and send notifications to said at leastone mobile wireless communications device based upon the personalinterest information and the calendar event data and with increasingfrequency based upon increasing proximity to an upcoming calendar event.2. The communications system of claim 1 wherein the notificationscomprise advertisements.
 3. The communications system of claim 1 whereinthe personal interest information comprises contact interest informationfor respective contacts.
 4. The communications system of claim 1,wherein said notification server is operable over the Internet foraccessing additional contact interest information; and wherein saidnotification sever also sends the notifications based upon theadditional contact interest information.
 5. The communications system ofclaim 4, wherein said at least one mobile wireless communications deviceis also for storing Internet addresses for the additional contactinterest information; and wherein said notification server furtheraccesses the stored Internet addresses from said at least one mobilewireless communications device.
 6. The communications system of claim 1wherein the personal interest information comprises one or more productsof interest.
 7. The communications system of claim 1, wherein said atleast one mobile wireless communications device is also for exchangingelectronic mail (email) messages with contacts; and wherein saidnotification server also sends the notifications based upon the emailmessages.
 8. The communications system of claim 1 wherein saidnotification server sends the notifications based upon bids submittedfrom a plurality of notification sources.
 9. The communications systemof claim 1 wherein said at least one mobile wireless communicationsdevice comprises at least one cellular communications device.
 10. Acommunications system comprising: at least one mobile wirelesscommunications device for storing contact interest information forrespective contacts and for storing calendar event data; a notificationserver communicating with said at least one mobile wirelesscommunications device via a wireless communications network, wherein theserver notification is configured to accessing the contact interestinformation and calendar event data from said at least one mobilewireless communications device, and sending advertisements to said atleast one mobile wireless communications device based upon the contactinterest information and the calendar event data and with increasingfrequency based upon increasing proximity to an upcoming calendar event.11. The communications system of claim 10 wherein the contact interestinformation comprises products of interest for respective contacts. 12.The communications system of claim 10, wherein said notification serveris operable over the Internet for accessing additional contact interestinformation; and wherein said notification sever also sends theadvertisements based upon the additional contact interest information.13. The communications system of claim 10, wherein said at least onemobile wireless communications device is also for exchanging electronicmail (email) messages with the contacts; and wherein said notificationserver also sends the advertisements based upon the email messages. 14.A communications method comprising: storing calendar event data andpersonal interest information in at least one mobile wirelesscommunications device; accessing the personal interest information andcalendar event data from the at least one mobile wireless communicationsdevice using a notification server communicating with the at least onemobile wireless communications device via a wireless communicationsnetwork; and sending notifications to the at least one mobile wirelesscommunications device from the notification server via the wirelesscommunication network based upon the personal interest information andthe calendar event data and with increasing frequency based uponincreasing proximity to an upcoming calendar event.
 15. The method ofclaim 14 wherein the notifications comprise advertisements.
 16. Themethod of claim 14 wherein the personal interest information comprisescontact interest information for respective contacts.
 17. The method ofclaim 14 further comprising using the notification server for accessingadditional contact interest information over the Internet; and whereinsending comprises sending the notifications based upon the additionalcontact interest information.
 18. The method of claim 14 wherein thepersonal interest information comprises products of interest.
 19. Themethod of claim 14 further comprising exchanging electronic mail (email)messages between the at least one mobile wireless communications deviceand contacts; and wherein sending further comprises sending thenotifications based upon the email messages.